French researchers and an AI firm have teamed up to generate a new play that mimics the style of the 17th-century playwright Molière, titled L’Astrologue ou les Faux Présages (The Astrologer or the False Omens). This project, labelled “Molière Ex Machina”, aims to explore how generative artificial intelligence can contribute to creative practice and cultural heritage.
The initiative was led by the Paris-based theatre collective supported by French AI company Mistral AI, with input from art historians and scholars who refined the output to ensure historical and stylistic fidelity. The resulting work stages a comedic plot familiar to Molière’s themes: a gullible bourgeois named Géronte is deceived by a fraudulent astrologer seeking to marry his daughter off to a racketeer, despite her love for another.
According to director Mickaël Bouffard, the AI model not only produced text but also generated costume sketches, giving fresh insights into Molière’s creative process. He added that through the modelling, scholars rediscovered subtleties in Molière’s work that had previously gone unnoticed. While AI generated the initial script, human expertise intervened to correct historical inaccuracies and polish the final draft.
The play is set to debut at the historic Palace of Versailles next year – ironically the same court where Molière premiered many of his comedies under King Louis XIV. The event marks both a technological landmark and a cultural statement: that AI can serve not just industry but the arts and the preservation of creative traditions. Analysts suggest this could open new pathways for cultural institutions to leverage AI for innovation, though it also raises questions about authorship, authenticity and the role of machines in artistic creation.
In essence, this AI-led revival highlights a synergy between heritage and innovation, showing how artificial intelligence can help re-imagine the past while pointing to future possibilities in arts-tech collaboration.
